Harneys – Best Offshore Law Firm

The firm’s investment funds practice has continued to grow, particularly in Cayman, where Harneys has rapidly closed the gap between it and other firms in the jurisdiction through a number of key hires, including Appleby’s former global head of investment funds, Ian Gobin (pictured), who joined at the start of 2016 along with team members Matt Taber (partner), Jonathan Bernstein (senior associate) and several other key executives including Cayman head of business development, Michelle Bolingbroke.

“We are targeting a wider client base and we’ve engaged in an extensive marketing campaign for the last 12 months, which continues and builds into the extensive marketing undertaken by our Vancouver and BVI offices” says Gobin. “I joined the Firm at a time when Harneys had been looking to focus more on the North American market, which, along with our existing strength in South America, through our offices in Sao Paulo and Montevideo and Asia, through our offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo, will all be key growth areas in 2017.”

Harneys prides itself on being able to offer bespoke services to clients, whether institutional or boutique managers. Its size, collegiate atmosphere and flexible teams allow Harneys to work across departments and offices.

“We challenge the industry by bringing personality to the table with our clients. We have a different culture to a lot of other offshore law firms. Rather than simply provide an anonymous service from a distance, if a client is looking for an offshore law firm to be their back-office legal team and care about every aspect of their business, and provide real value at the right price point, they should look no further than Harneys. Ultimately, our job is to make the life of a general counsel and fund manager as easy as possible and to make those referring work to us look good in the eyes of their clients,” comments Gobin.

Gobin says that chemistry is incredibly important when choosing the right offshore law firm, just as it is between the manager and investor.

“As part of that chemistry, delivering on your promises is absolutely key. When we speak with a prospective client and explain our bespoke service and offering, occasionally people can be sceptical, as that’s not the experience they have generally had with offshore legal services. However, once they realise that what we claim to offer is actually true, they quickly become our biggest fans and start referring us to their peers. For us, it’s all about execution. We deliver on the promises we give to our clients,” asserts Gobin.

He says that the end of 2016 was incredibly strong and, if Q1 2017 is anything to go by, “it’s going to be a record year for us”.

On winning this year’s award, Gobin says: “By challenging the industry norms, and at the same time holding onto our core values and historical roots, we are innovating and enhancing the market for offshore. In addition, we recognise that a large part of winning the award goes to our clients and our business partners and friends in the industry. To them, we would like to extend a huge thank you.”